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Catholic Schools Hire Private Companies to Run Cafeterias
By Jessie Abrams
Source: Catholic News Service
Published: Monday, September 07, 2009

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WASHINGTON (CNS)—Many Catholic high schools across the country have contracted with independent companies to operate their cafeterias as a way to improve food quality and respond to students' requests for more nutritious choices.

DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Md., switched to a private caterer last year following a mandate from the school's board of trustees. The students at the boys school are now provided with breakfasts and lunches by a branch of Three Brothers Cafe, a Maryland restaurant.

Tom Ponton, the school's director of development, told Catholic News Service that the change was simply to give the school a different way of managing cafeteria services. He did not think the nutritional value of the food necessarily changed.

But Gregg Repole, a graduate of DeMatha and a son of one of the three founding brothers of the restaurant, said the quality has improved.

While caloric intake in foods such as pizza or burgers may not shift too much with different suppliers, he said, the quality of the food is much better with the catering program because ingredients are fresh and the company does not use many processed foods.

Cooking methods also can have a big impact on items like hamburgers, he said, because fat can be cooked out of the meat for a leaner alternative. But what he serves really comes down to what students will buy, he said.

"It really depends because we do an all-boys school and an all-girls school," said Repole, the director of operations for the cafe. "We can serve steamed broccoli but it's not really going to sell. We make healthy choices as well but it's just really hard to sell them."

At a school packed with adolescent males, Repole said he doesn't worry too much about portion control and tries to get students to eat as many carbohydrates as he can. But for the young female students at nearby Elizabeth Seton High School in Bladensburg, Md., the cafe takes a different approach by offering half portions at reduced prices and more salad options.

As the newly appointed president of Marian Catholic High School in Chicago Heights, Ill., Dominican Sister Judine Hilbing said she is happy with the private company hired by the previous administration less than two years ago. She described the food provided by the supplier, Country House Restaurant, as "almost home cooking" and said she is impressed with the restaurant's commitment to fresh, local ingredients.

Because eating too quickly can cause almost as much harm as eating unhealthy or processed foods, Sister Judine told CNS that the school made sure the cafeteria was reorganized to accommodate its 1,500 students and avoid long lines of lunch traffic. The cafeteria includes various stands offering different types of food so students who want salads and students who want pizza do not have to wait in the same line.

As far as student nutrition is concerned, she said she thinks healthy eating is a joint endeavor of parental influence, student decision-making and school offerings.

"I think it works both ways," Sister Judine said. "With all things for all young people as they are developing it's always a combined effort."

The school, for its part, has made changes to improve the nutritional value of lunch options by replacing processed, sugary items with yogurt and homemade baked goods. Concerned parents can also monitor their children's food purchases made with a prepaid lunch card because it has an online record.

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